Porous metal spinning ring partially covered with wear resistant bands



p 1968- A.'J'. WAYSON 3,399,522

POROUS METAL SPINNING RING PARTIALLY COVERED WITH WEAR RESISTANT BANDS Filed April 5, 1967 Ill--5 511' lliEiE- flaade' ew J Wagsofi, ,9 M. W245 1- qawe United States Patent 3,399,522 POROUS METAL SPINNING RING PARTIALLY COVERED WITH WEAR RESISTANT BANDS Andrew J. Wayson, Needham, Mass., assignor to Merriman, Inc., Hingham, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 628,766 7 Claims. (Cl. 57-120) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to the textile machinery industry and is particularly concerned with porous metal spinning rings, both horizontal and vertical, to which have been applied circumferentially extending bands located at the principal area or areas with which the traveler makes contact during normal spinning operations. The bands may be applied to the ring surface by any process available. The material of the added bands is always harder and of longer wearing character than the porous metal of the ring and generally but not necessarily of negligible porosity.

According to the present invention, the surfaces of the bands of low porosity receive their lubrication from oil which has collected on the porous metal surface above each band and has run downwards under the influence of gravity and/ or capillary action to substantially cover the surface of the band therebelow. Further, according to the present invention, if the bands are made of sufficiently hard material but of appreciable porosity, more of the porous metal ring may be covered. In such instances, lubrication of the band is then accomplished by the oil passing directly from the porous metal ring surface through the pores of the covering band to the outer band surface which is engaged by the traveler.

The bands in the preferred form are of slight thickness, but adequate to give the increased wear required. The band material may be applied through the use of the detonation gun and process disclosed in the United States patent to Poorman et al. No. 2,714,563.

Background of the invention Field of the invention and description of the prior art,--The invention is concerned with spinning rings which are used in great numbers in the textile manufacturing industry. Spinning rings and the travelers used therewith wear out: spinning rings slowly, travelers quickly. Over the years, much time and effort has been expended to increase ring and traveler life. This has been accomplished to a marked degree by utilizing more durable materials and improving the lubricating procedures whereby the traveler will always find a film of oil between it and the ring.

One of the most satisfactory ways of providing an oil film on the ring has been to form the rings of pressed powdered metal which, after sintering, are sutficiently porous to allow oil fed thereto to work through to all of the working surfaces.

Porous powdered metal spinning rings have found general acceptance in the industry because of the excellent lubrication characteristics provided thereby which give longer life to both the rings and traveler.

Summary 0 the invention It has been known for some time that certain materials, if used in spinning rings, would have better wearing characteristics than either steel or powdered pressed metal. It has not, however, been possible to utilize these longer wearing materials for spinning rings because of difiiculties in manufacture and lubrication of the ring surface.

The present invention provides an improved result for these problems. The rigid porous metal spinning ring is utilized as the foundation to support a band of better wearing characteristics at the areas of the ring where the traveler would normally make engagement. At the same time, the porous ring acts as a carrier for the oil which on escaping from the ring at the circumferential area above each low porosity band willthen run down to cover the surface of the band. That is to say, the porosity of the band made of certain materials precludes flow of oil through the band to the band surface. Hence, there must be a large enough uncovered surface of the porous ring immediately above the band to provide enough lubricant for the band;

In another form of the invention, the hard surfaced band applied to the porous metal ring maybe porous enough to permit oil to pass therethrough to the working surfaces. In this construction, the width of the band need not be limited.

Studies using stroboscopic light have determined quite accurately the normal area of engagement of the traveler with both horizontal and vertical rings. Thus the areas to be covered with the improved wearing material are known.

In the case of the horizontal ring, the traveler will engage the ring at the underside radius of the inner flange. It is this area of engagement that is covered with the material of which the band is made. The upper edge of the non-porous band will receive oil oozing from the uncovered area above, the oil being in sufiicient quantity .to effectively cover the entire surface of the band in a good lubricating manner.

In the case of the vertical ring, the traveler is known to engage the bottom of the ring and generally the inner face will be engaged as centrifugal force urges the traveler outwardly, overcoming the inward pull of the yarn. Parallel bands of hard non-porous material may be affixed to the bottom edge and to the inner wall which will be engaged by the traveler. If hard porous material is used, then if more convenient, the entire surface may be covered since the oil can come through to lubricate the working areas.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1, drawn to greatly enlarged scale, shows the invention applied to a horizontal ring.

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, also drawn to greatly enlarged scale, show the invention applied to vertical rings of different vertical dimensions and having different wick arrangements.

Referring first to the horizontal ring in FIG. 1, it will be understood that this is representative of any horizontal porous metal spinning ring regardless of dimensions or special configuration. The ring comprises a supporting web 2 which carries an inner ring flange 4 and an outer ring flange 6.

Oil may be delivered to the ring for absorption therein by any of the conventional, known procedures. The disclosed arrangement comprises a circumferentially extending groove 8 covered by an oil impervious plate 10 having therethrough one or more oil holes 12-by which the oil can be introduced.

A traveler 14 is illustrative of any traveler that may be used with a horizontal ring. The lower inside edge of flange 4 is shown as covered with a band 16 of hard long-wearing substance such as ceramic, beryllium copper or other material which may be applied, for example, by the Poorman at al. process above referred to. The thickness of this band is greatly exaggerated in the drawing, but it effectively illustrates how the traveler is held completely out of any engagement with the adjacent ring surfaces which are of softer less long-wearing porous metal.

If the band 16 is of non-porous material, then it will be lubricated by oil escaping from the porous surface 18 of the ring immediately above the band. The oil will gradually accumulate at the upper edge of the band and then flow downward to cover the surface. In this way, the lower inside hook end 19 of the traveler is lubricated.

If the band 16 is of hard but porous material, then the oil will work its way from the ring through the band to lubricate the band surface.

Now referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, there are shown three conventional porous metal spinning rings indicated at 20, 22 and 24. These rings are supported by holders 26, 28 and 30. Ring 20 has a single wick groove 32 extending thereabout; ring 22 has two wick grooves 34 and 36 extending thereabout; and ring 24 has three grooves 38, 40 and 42 extending thereabout. The grooves 34 and 36 of ring 22 are separated by a circumferential web 44 and the grooves 38, 40 and 42 in FIG. 4 are separated by circumferential webs 46 and 48. In all of the grooves in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are positioned oil conveying wicks 50. The holders 26, 28 and 30 conventionally have oil passages 52 therethrough which deliver oil to the wicks which in turn carry the oil to all parts of the ring. The oil supplying mechanism just described is conventional and forms no part of the invention. It is merely one means of bringing oil to the porous metal rings 20, 22 and 24 whereby the oil will enter the ring and by capillary action work its way through to the surfaces of the ring.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a band of hard material 54 has been applied to the lower edge of the ring and extending upward to cover a portion of the lower face. A second narrower band 56 has been applied at a higher level. The lower band 54 terminates at a point approximately level with the bottom of groove 32, while the upper band 56 has its bottom edge at a level approximately that of the upper edge of groove 32. By leaving the section indicated at 58 open, the oil may more quickly reach this surface because of the relatively thin ring section at this vertical position.

The traveler 60, it will be noted, engages the bands 54 and 56 but is held away from the other uncovered ring surfaces.

In FIG. 3 there is a lower band 62 covering the bottom of the ring extending upward to cover a portion of the face as far as the bottom of groove 36. A second band 64 is opposite the rib 44 and the third band 66 has its bottom edge approximately on a level with the top of groove 34. Thus the traveler 68 will be in engagement 'with bands 62, 64 and 66 and will not engage the uncovered surfaces I of the ring.

In FIG. 4, the band 69 covers the bottom edge and a portion of the face up as far as the bottom of groove 42. Band 70 is opposite rib 48; hand 72 is opposite rib 46 and band 74 has its bottom edge approximately on the level with the top edge of groove 38. Traveler 76 is thus in engagement with band 69, 70, 72 and 74, but does not engage the other uncovered surfaces of the ring.

All of the bands shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 may be of substantially non-porous material, and will be lubricated by oil flowing downward thereover from the uncovered areas of the ring immediately above.

If it is desired to coat the ring with material of a hard but relatively porous nature, then the same arrangement of bands may be used if preferred, but the coating material in such case being porous may run continuously up the face of the ring rather than be divided into the bands as shown. As explained above, the reason for this is that the oil will travel through the covered face of the porous ring into and through the porous coating material to ooze out on the face thereof to provide the necessary lubrication for the traveler.

It is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim: 1. A porous metal spinning ring adapted to carry a traveler thereon and having a portion only of its surface covered by a very thin layer of material harder than and of less porosity than said porous metal spinning ring,

said layer being in the form of a circular band conforming to that part of the surface of the ring to which it has been applied and having its traveler engaging surface raised above the adjacent porous metal surface,

the plane of said band being at right angles to the vertical axis of said ring and located, at least, on the lowermost interior circumferential portion of the ring which is engaged by the said ring traveler during normal operation, and

means for supplying oil to the interior of the body of the ring whereby the oil may flow through said ring and thence downwardly over the surface of said band.

2. A porous metal spinning ring as set forth in claim 1 in which said ring is of the horizontal type and said band is curved in vertical cross-section and located on and extends about the interior lower corner of said ring.

3. A porous metal spinning ring as set forth in claim 1 in which said ring is of the vertical type and said band is curved in cross-section and is located on and extends about the lower edge of said ring.

4. A porous metal spinning ring as set forth in claim 1 in which said ring is of the vertical type and has a plurality of vertically spaced bands, each band having above it an uncovered surface of said ring of such porosity as to be capable of supplying the outer surface of the band therebelow with a film of oil to lubricate a traveler moving therealong.

5. A spinning ring as set forth in claim 4, the said uncovered ring surface between two adjacent bands being horizontally aligned with a portion of said ring which has an oil groove formed therein on the opposite side, thus to provide a thinner vertical wall at the level of said uncovered ring surface to facilitate the passage of oil therethrough.

6. A porous metal spinning ring as set forth in claim 1 in which said band is of substantially non-porous material.

7. A porous metal spinning ring as set forth in claim 1 in which said band is of material of sufficient porosity to permit oil to ooze therethrough in sufiicient quantity to lubricate a traveler running thereagainst.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,090,137 8/1937 McLeod 57-122 XR 2,448,150 8/1948 Mulhollan-d 57-119 3,045,417 7/1962 Wayson et a1. 57--12O 3,304,707 2/1967 Kluttz 57-120 FOREIGN PATENTS 383,074 11/1932 Great Britain.

JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner. 

